The Heartland Season on RTE

johngalway · 01-05-2011 08:26PM #1

Philip Boucher Hayes, George Lee, the Ear To The Ground Team and A.N. Other who's name I have forgotten are doing a series of documentaries on Farming and the Irish food Industry starting this coming Sunday I believe.

Check RTE website just in case I've gotten that wrong

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/heart_land.html

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/heart_land_whats_eating_ireland.html

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/heart_land_the_home_place.html

Not sure what it's going to be like but the more farming stuff on TV the better I reckon.

keep going · 08-05-2011 10:19PM

saw the programm about food tonight,thought that was a programm that needed to be made but do ye think it will have any impact

reilig · 09-05-2011 09:49AM

I watched the Heartland programme which detailed the Ear to the Ground presenters last night. It had been billed on one of yesterday's papers as being about the "farming backgrounds" of the presenters. i was surprised to see that only one of them came from a farming background.

When they interviewed his father, it turned out that Darragh is the farmer that none of us want to be. He studied Journalism in college but came home to run the family farm in 2006. His father was about to retire from running a very successful Dairy farm in Gormanstown, County Meath. A farm that Darragh's father spoke about with great pride, a farm that was bought by Darragh's Grandfather just after the war when no loans could be secured and only hard work and sweat could pay for anything.

On retirement, Darragh's father handed over the farm to him. The first thing that he did was close down the successful milking operation and put everything that he had into an onion farm. 3 wet summers saw the crop fail. hundreds of thousands of euro were lost. The big vegetable stores were empty but for the useless harvesting machines.

But Darragh claims that his farming enterprise was "great". He now grows a couple of acres of daffodils. But best of all, his extensive agricultural experience secured him the position of deputy editor of the Farming independent and presenter of Ireland's most popular farming related tv show.

What a sham!! The guy had big ideas that flopped. His father looked like a broken man when he spoke about his farm that he had worked so hard on now gone to waste on a stupid chance that his son took. darragh gave the impression that he should be applauded for running the farm into the ground.

As for the other 2 presenters - Wouldn't it be nice if 1 of the 3 presenters on Ear to the Ground was actually a farmer??????????

johngalway wrote: »

Philip Boucher Hayes, George Lee, the Ear To The Ground Team and A.N. Other who's name I have forgotten are doing a series of documentaries on Farming and the Irish food Industry starting this coming Sunday I believe.

Check RTE website just in case I've gotten that wrong

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/heart_land.html

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/heart_land_whats_eating_ireland.html

http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/heart_land_the_home_place.html

Not sure what it's going to be like but the more farming stuff on TV the better I reckon.

bob charles · 09-05-2011 10:51AM

and what do I usually say about advisors, preachers, journalists etc in the Ag industry. seems to shine through here. didn't see the programme and sad to hear how things went for the chap

Box09 · 09-05-2011 11:12AM

Very negative comments here Reilig.

Dara comes accross as a well educated guy and is justifiably in the position he is in. Whats to say the dairy enterprise was really sucessful in the first place? Most dairy farmers were losing money in 06. He could have spent all his life working every hour god sends for half of the income he has now. Thats no standard of living. He now has a guaranteed income and a supplementary income from the farm. He gets to meet people and have a life and balance this with some evening work on the farm. This is a much better life than a full time dairy farmer.

He saw an opportunity and went for it. Perhaps he should have wet his toes a little first with onions. However there is no shame in taking a risk. The guy is bright and will do well for himself.

The objective of ear to the ground is to appeal to the wider public like BBC Counrtyfile.

reilig wrote: »

I watched the Heartland programme which detailed the Ear to the Ground presenters last night. It had been billed on one of yesterday's papers as being about the "farming backgrounds" of the presenters. i was surprised to see that only one of them came from a farming background.

When they interviewed his father, it turned out that Darragh is the farmer that none of us want to be. He studied Journalism in college but came home to run the family farm in 2006. His father was about to retire from running a very successful Dairy farm in Gormanstown, County Meath. A farm that Darragh's father spoke about with great pride, a farm that was bought by Darragh's Grandfather just after the war when no loans could be secured and only hard work and sweat could pay for anything.

On retirement, Darragh's father handed over the farm to him. The first thing that he did was close down the successful milking operation and put everything that he had into an onion farm. 3 wet summers saw the crop fail. hundreds of thousands of euro were lost. The big vegetable stores were empty but for the useless harvesting machines.

But Darragh claims that his farming enterprise was "great". He now grows a couple of acres of daffodils. But best of all, his extensive agricultural experience secured him the position of deputy editor of the Farming independent and presenter of Ireland's most popular farming related tv show.

What a sham!! The guy had big ideas that flopped. His father looked like a broken man when he spoke about his farm that he had worked so hard on now gone to waste on a stupid chance that his son took. darragh gave the impression that he should be applauded for running the farm into the ground.

As for the other 2 presenters - Wouldn't it be nice if 1 of the 3 presenters on Ear to the Ground was actually a farmer??????????

reilig · 09-05-2011 11:30AM

If i was negative, I was only passing on the negativity that he gave during the interview. It was as if he was saying that there was no future in Dairy farming so he took a big gamble and lost big on it. When his father talked about the dairying, he spoke positively and he seemed a bit angry that his son had squandered everything that he had worked to build up.

Darragh said that farming for him wasn't about the money - he said that farming was the one thing that he wanted to do all his life - but that quickly changed when he made a baLL$ of the family farm.

Some people don't have an off farm job or a third level education to fall back on. They have to rely solely on their farm - but if you were to follow Darragh's advice and lead, then nobody should be involved in farming unless they have an off farm job to supplement their income - Bull$h1t!!!!!

While the objective of Ear to the Ground may be to appeal to the wider public, 75% of their stories are still farm based. Just because Darragh writes about farming doesn't mean that he has knowledge of or is an expert on farming.

Look at the BBC's Countryfile' Adam Henson - a brilliant presenter who regularly allows filming on his own farm to show the good and bad things happening. Information and advice given byb him is solely based on experience - he and his family operate one of the biggest farms in the uk.

You cannot compare Adam and Darragh - and they are both trying to produce a similar type of tv program.

Box09 wrote: »

Very negative comments here Reilig.

Dara comes accross as a well educated guy and is justifiably in the position he is in. Whats to say the dairy enterprise was really sucessful in the first place? Most dairy farmers were losing money in 06. He could have spent all his life working every hour god sends for half of the income he has now. Thats no standard of living. He now has a guaranteed income and a supplementary income from the farm. He gets to meet people and have a life and balance this with some evening work on the farm. This is a much better life than a full time dairy farmer.

He saw an opportunity and went for it. Perhaps he should have wet his toes a little first with onions. However there is no shame in taking a risk. The guy is bright and will do well for himself.

The objective of ear to the ground is to appeal to the wider public like BBC Counrtyfile.

MfMan · 09-05-2011 11:32AM

The way I understood it reilig, the first few years growing onions were ok, it was the 3 wet years, which no-one could have predicted that put the kibosh on him. Give him some credit, he could have gone the easy route and reared livestock; instead he's willing to try something outside the box in growing daffs on some of the farm. He didn't say what he did with the rest of the land, whether it's set (most likely) or sold.

reilig · 09-05-2011 11:35AM

MfMan wrote: »

The way I understood it reilig, the first few years growing onions were ok, it was the 3 wet years, which no-one could have predicted that put the kibosh on him. Give him some credit, he could have gone the easy route and reared livestock; instead he's willing to try something outside the box in growing daffs on some of the farm. He didn't say what he did with the rest of the land, whether it's set (most likely) or sold.

They interviewed his neighbour who is suckling - I presume they interviewed him because he rents the rest of the land from him. I think he only grows 5 acres of daffodils. The other 200+ acres are leased out.

keep going · 09-05-2011 11:54AM

g wiz relig go easy on him. didnt see the program but i kind of agree with you but havent we all got a couple skeltons in the closet

Box09 · 09-05-2011 12:36PM

There was no future in dairy farming when the cows were sold only heartache for pittance. Its easy to say that we all wanted to farm when we were growing up but when reality hits its not so attractive when you have bills and mortgage to pay. Its very harsh to say that he made a baXls of it. Luck went against him. I'm sure he didn't squander everything his dad built up. I would assume that the sale of the cows went to his parents. He probably has a better standard of living by renting it out and keeping a small acreage for himself. Nothing foolish there.

I didn't compare Darragh to Adam. Adam Henson has a different scale of resources behind him which is not representative of a typical Irish farm.

reilig wrote: »

If i was negative, I was only passing on the negativity that he gave during the interview. It was as if he was saying that there was no future in Dairy farming so he took a big gamble and lost big on it. When his father talked about the dairying, he spoke positively and he seemed a bit angry that his son had squandered everything that he had worked to build up.

Darragh said that farming for him wasn't about the money - he said that farming was the one thing that he wanted to do all his life - but that quickly changed when he made a baLL$ of the family farm.

Some people don't have an off farm job or a third level education to fall back on. They have to rely solely on their farm - but if you were to follow Darragh's advice and lead, then nobody should be involved in farming unless they have an off farm job to supplement their income - Bull$h1t!!!!!

While the objective of Ear to the Ground may be to appeal to the wider public, 75% of their stories are still farm based. Just because Darragh writes about farming doesn't mean that he has knowledge of or is an expert on farming.

Look at the BBC's Countryfile' Adam Henson - a brilliant presenter who regularly allows filming on his own farm to show the good and bad things happening. Information and advice given byb him is solely based on experience - he and his family operate one of the biggest farms in the uk.

You cannot compare Adam and Darragh - and they are both trying to produce a similar type of tv program.

reilig · 09-05-2011 01:30PM

Box09 wrote: »

There was no future in dairy farming when the cows were sold only heartache for pittance. Its easy to say that we all wanted to farm when we were growing up but when reality hits its not so attractive when you have bills and mortgage to pay.

But in the interview Darragh's father said that he was making a good living from his Dairy herd. While he stated that he supported Darragh's Onion enterprise, he didn't appear all too happy about it.

At the end of the day, Luck goes against a lot of people but we have to pick ourselves up and get on with our farming. Darragh didn't - he had an off farm job to fall back on. And it just looked like he abandoned the farm.

I have nothing against they guy, I didn't think his interview was appropriate for the Heartlands Program. I just thought it was sad for his parents to be interviewed talking about all the work that they had put into their farm and how Darragh's grandfather had bought the farm against the odds. Darragh turned around in the interview and basically said "I gave it a go, it flopped, so I just went back to my job - I grow a few daffodils now just to show that I'm still into the farming.

Life isn't so Rosy for everyone!!

Birdnuts · 09-05-2011 01:50PM

keep going wrote: »

saw the programm about food tonight,thought that was a programm that needed to be made but do ye think it will have any impact

Sure was!! - but will this government have the b$lls to take on any of the issues highlighted or will they just roll over like they have with the banks!!:(

F.D · 09-05-2011 02:11PM

reilig wrote: »

But in the interview Darragh's father said that he was making a good living from his Dairy herd. While he stated that he supported Darragh's Onion enterprise, he didn't appear all too happy about it.

At the end of the day, Luck goes against a lot of people but we have to pick ourselves up and get on with our farming. Darragh didn't - he had an off farm job to fall back on. And it just looked like he abandoned the farm.

I have nothing against they guy, I didn't think his interview was appropriate for the Heartlands Program. I just thought it was sad for his parents to be interviewed talking about all the work that they had put into their farm and how Darragh's grandfather had bought the farm against the odds. Darragh turned around in the interview and basically said "I gave it a go, it flopped, so I just went back to my job - I grow a few daffodils now just to show that I'm still into the farming.

Life isn't so Rosy for everyone!!

they had nearly 200 pedigree high yielding cows, robotic milking machines and a herds man so i'm told bt a person i know thats not to far away from there, he could still have he's off farm job going and the milking enterprise if he had any will to do so, it would have paid for itsself, with out him putting any major work into it,
but he's not the only one to do things like this i see more and more people who were reared on farms have no interest in taken it on no matter how good or bad the set up is, a lot of it is down to the fact its not handed down soon enough and not getting the younger generation involved, i think darraghs father needs to be given a pat on the back for passing it on and stepping back, no matter what the outcome was.

5live · 09-05-2011 02:30PM

Box09 wrote: »

Whats to say the dairy enterprise was really sucessful in the first place? Most dairy farmers were losing money in 06.

WHAT???????? Damn. I must go back and reconfigure my accounts because i made good money in 06. And 05. And 07. Will i be able to claim a refund on taxes in those years i wonder?

I would have to agree with reilig on this one. The father was putting on a brave face but he took it badly. But he is not the first to hand on a farm only to not like what the sucessor does with it

It must be fairly difficult to engineer a loss on a fully set up dairy farm in 06 but maybe it happened.

Or maybe he didnt fancy the lifestyle involved when he had an alternative income source. Or he didnt fancy milking cows.

I stopped recording ETTG a good while back as at this stage its just a fluffy lifestyle programme a bit like watching gorillas in a nice strong cage you dont have to enter but can have a laugh at the eejits inside from the safety of your own couch. With the exception of Ella who made a brilliant programme on the killing and processing of her own pigs, the other two presenters have as much connection to agriculture as a duck to the sahara

reilig · 09-05-2011 02:30PM

F.D wrote: »

they had nearly 200 pedigree high yielding cows, robotic milking machines and a herds man so i'm told bt a person i know thats not to far away from there, he could still have he's off farm job going and the milking enterprise if he had any will to do so, it would have paid for itsself, with out him putting any major work into it,

I heard that too - but didn't want to quote it as it was second hand info.

whelan1 · 09-05-2011 06:37PM

F.D wrote: »

they had nearly 200 pedigree high yielding cows, robotic milking machines and a herds man so i'm told bt a person i know thats not to far away from there, he could still have he's off farm job going and the milking enterprise if he had any will to do so, it would have paid for itsself, with out him putting any major work into it,
but he's not the only one to do things like this i see more and more people who were reared on farms have no interest in taken it on no matter how good or bad the set up is, a lot of it is down to the fact its not handed down soon enough and not getting the younger generation involved, i think darraghs father needs to be given a pat on the back for passing it on and stepping back, no matter what the outcome was.

very good post... i live near there too.

vincenzolorenzo · 09-05-2011 07:32PM

Just watched it there now, think you might have been a bit harsh on him Reilig. They said in the show that it was his dad that got out of cows, dara had 2-3 good years at the onions before the bad summers made a mess of things. Granted it is a bit of a shame to see 5 acres in daffodils and god knows what on the rest of what looks to be top class land but at the end of the day he's doing something with the land and has a good job which provides him with a far better income than farming alone would

Tora Bora · 09-05-2011 07:45PM

vincenzolorenzo wrote: »

Just watched it there now, think you might have been a bit harsh on him Reilig. They said in the show that it was his dad that got out of cows, dara had 2-3 good years at the onions before the bad summers made a mess of things. Granted it is a bit of a shame to see 5 acres in daffodils and god knows what on the rest of what looks to be top class land but at the end of the day he's doing something with the land and has a good job which provides him with a far better income than farming alone would

Why a shame to see five acres in daffodils? Maybe there is good money in them.

reilig · 09-05-2011 08:04PM

vincenzolorenzo wrote: »

he's doing something with the land and has a good job which provides him with a far better income than farming alone would

I was being critical of his attitude rather than what he is doing now. As a presenter, he's supposed to be a role model for farmers. He was well able to talk about how the only thing he wanted to do when growing up was to become a farmer. His father gave the whole lot to him. He tried it for a few years, suffered a bit of hardship and gave up. What would your father do if it was you?? I certainly know that my father wouldn't allow himself to be interviewed on TV if it was me.

By the way, I understand that it was his decision to give up the dairying. The farm might have been in his father's name at the time, but Darragh made the decision that he wouldn't be dairying when his father retired so the father took it easier for the last year of his work by giving up the milking.

MfMan · 09-05-2011 08:04PM

I stopped recording ETTG a good while back as at this stage its just a fluffy lifestyle programme a bit like watching gorillas in a nice strong cage you dont have to enter but can have a laugh at the eejits inside from the safety of your own couch. With the exception of Ella who made a brilliant programme on the killing and processing of her own pigs, the other two presenters have as much connection to agriculture as a duck to the sahara

ETTG aren't the only culprits; see Damien O Reilly's column in the back page of the Countrywide section in the IFJ, esp. the bit about 'sentimental' cattle and the A-one man!

pakalasa · 09-05-2011 08:29PM

MfMan wrote: »

ETTG aren't the only culprits; see Damien O Reilly's column in the back page of the Countrywide section in the IFJ, esp. the bit about 'sentimental' cattle and the A-one man!

...well, my AI guy is A-one, in fairness...sound man!

Corsendonk · 09-05-2011 09:48PM

vincenzolorenzo wrote: »

Just watched it there now, think you might have been a bit harsh on him Reilig. They said in the show that it was his dad that got out of cows, dara had 2-3 good years at the onions before the bad summers made a mess of things. Granted it is a bit of a shame to see 5 acres in daffodils and god knows what on the rest of what looks to be top class land but at the end of the day he's doing something with the land and has a good job which provides him with a far better income than farming alone would

I don't think he is too harsh on him, Dara just hadn't got a clue about the large difference between dairy farming and horticulture. Incidentally 3 other growers in the north co dublin area have grown onions successfully and better quality in the same years as Dara but then again they had years of knowledge growing potatoes and other outdoor veg crops.

Min · 09-05-2011 10:08PM

reilig wrote: »

I watched the Heartland programme which detailed the Ear to the Ground presenters last night. It had been billed on one of yesterday's papers as being about the "farming backgrounds" of the presenters. i was surprised to see that only one of them came from a farming background.

When they interviewed his father, it turned out that Darragh is the farmer that none of us want to be. He studied Journalism in college but came home to run the family farm in 2006. His father was about to retire from running a very successful Dairy farm in Gormanstown, County Meath. A farm that Darragh's father spoke about with great pride, a farm that was bought by Darragh's Grandfather just after the war when no loans could be secured and only hard work and sweat could pay for anything.

On retirement, Darragh's father handed over the farm to him. The first thing that he did was close down the successful milking operation and put everything that he had into an onion farm. 3 wet summers saw the crop fail. hundreds of thousands of euro were lost. The big vegetable stores were empty but for the useless harvesting machines.

But Darragh claims that his farming enterprise was "great". He now grows a couple of acres of daffodils. But best of all, his extensive agricultural experience secured him the position of deputy editor of the Farming independent and presenter of Ireland's most popular farming related tv show.

What a sham!! The guy had big ideas that flopped. His father looked like a broken man when he spoke about his farm that he had worked so hard on now gone to waste on a stupid chance that his son took. darragh gave the impression that he should be applauded for running the farm into the ground.

As for the other 2 presenters - Wouldn't it be nice if 1 of the 3 presenters on Ear to the Ground was actually a farmer??????????

Helen Carroll's father was an agricultural advisor with Teagasc here in Kilkenny, sadly he died rather suddenly.

keep going · 09-05-2011 10:25PM

listen lads we all get things wrong ,sometimes big sometimes small and it bothers me to see a situation like that but as i say to my wife if we dont get them right(our kids) we are wasting our time .what ever you do buy land, build,or expand remember you must try to rear your children to be happy, hard working,open minded and honest.nothing else matters

vincenzolorenzo · 09-05-2011 11:00PM

Tora Bora wrote: »

Why a shame to see five acres in daffodils? Maybe there is good money in them.

I meant it was a shame to see just 5 acres of good land in use when it seemed like there could be so much more done with all the other land he has. Wouldn't have the first notion about the economics of daffodil production so there could well be great money in it, just a shame he's not using more of his land

Tipp Man · 09-05-2011 11:12PM

Nice to see south tipp on the tv tonight.

First family, the o grady's are about 7 miles from me.

vanderbadger · 10-05-2011 06:51AM

Tipp Man wrote: »

Nice to see south tipp on the tv tonight.

First family, the o grady's are about 7 miles from me.

ya nice looking farm, seemed like sound people, thought it was funny when the sons wife was on about the money they make going back into farm..always a new project..same old story for eveyone i suppose

thetangler · 10-05-2011 08:29AM

reilig wrote: »

I was being critical of his attitude rather than what he is doing now. As a presenter, he's supposed to be a role model for farmers. He was well able to talk about how the only thing he wanted to do when growing up was to become a farmer. His father gave the whole lot to him. He tried it for a few years, suffered a bit of hardship and gave up. What would your father do if it was you?? I certainly know that my father wouldn't allow himself to be interviewed on TV if it was me.

By the way, I understand that it was his decision to give up the dairying. The farm might have been in his father's name at the time, but Darragh made the decision that he wouldn't be dairying when his father retired so the father took it easier for the last year of his work by giving up the milking.

I'm with Reilig on this one. Supposed to be a role model (in his present job) and caved in before the first shower fell.

""What would your father do if it was you?? ""

Tipp Man · 10-05-2011 08:39AM

vanderbadger wrote: »

ya nice looking farm, seemed like sound people, thought it was funny when the sons wife was on about the money they make going back into farm..always a new project..same old story for eveyone i suppose

As the programme indicated they have farmed there for a long time and the farm was always big. 200 acres was lot of land 50 years ago. The land from which he was driving in the cows is very good land, dry and sound. The 100 acres that the son inherited first is on the other side of the river so much closer to the mountain and would not be as good quality. Still its all together so they have that advantage

As the son said himself it never stops with farming, there is always something to be done and money to be spent. I was only saying to the auld fella a couple of weeks ago that with the fairly new parlour and shed we are nearly done spending money for a while once they are paid for. He proceed to list about 10 things that will need to be done in the next few years. It never stops.

I think non farming people greatly underestimate the money that a lot of farmers spend on the rural economy

JohnBoy · 10-05-2011 09:09AM

would it have killed him (the first guy last night) to run a power washer over the parlour before filming?

There was a layer of cowsh*t on the whole place.

whelan1 · 10-05-2011 09:14AM

JohnBoy wrote: »

would it have killed him (the first guy last night) to run a power washer over the parlour before filming?

There was a layer of cowsh*t on the whole place.

was saying the same... jesus especially if you're going to be filmed:o

The Heartland Season on RTE

Comments